Maul's Choice
by O.A. Garcia
Summary: Darth Maul had a mission to fulfill, but he finds something that could make his future change


Chapter 1

Darth Maul meditated in middle of a forest alone, hearing but the sounds of raindrops hitting the ground and trees, without interrupting his view to The Force. His Master Sidious assigned him an important task, to kill a Senator in Malastare, who avoided his Master's alter ego, Palpatine, to make negotiations with the planet and thus manage to steal them their machinery and weapons. Maul would usually meditate for even days, as he did here, this would soothe him and encourage him to fulfil the missions he would suffer in his heart to make. He at last opened his eyes and stood up, putting on his shirt and robe and then walked to his ship, located a bit far from where he was, crossing grass and trees, and jumping cliffs and branches. He arrived and wordless left yavin 4, where he was meditating, and took off to Malastare.

He headed the course and jumped to hyperspace, only to leave the ship again arriving in a simple matter of minutes to the planet. He landed in middle of a not so deep lake with trees scattered around it, wet as if they emerged from the lake little before. Maul left the ship as he placed slowly his hood on his face, making it look sinister and evil. A while later, the Sith Padawan found himself before the entrance of a cave covered by many bushes, avoiding sight to its interior. Darth fixed his eyes to that place, foul in The Force even for him, a dark feeling causing great fear and hesitation on his mission. Only believing in Sidious's words, "Kill him, have no mercy, leave no trace of you being there when you leave."

Maul walked between the bushes and entered the cave, from which he knew that even when the entrance was right behind him, he couldn't exit. As he deepened into the sticky, humid tunnel, he began to feel a dark presence close, but he couldn't realize where it was, so he felt forced to follow. After much time walking, keeping his hand on his lightsaber's hilt, he saw a silhouette of a robed man walking to him. Noticing that such was a dark presence, without watching he lit both blades from his lightsaber and quickly attacked the silhouette, who also lit a two-bladed lightsaber and engaged Maul. As the raging duel went on, they raced to the end of the tunnel, the mysterious, attacker tried to prevent the Sith Lord from leaving the cave. Darth Maul couldn't see the face of his opponent, for he jumped and dodged and fought so quickly and with such a grace and complexity that only his dark clothes swiftly moving could be seen. Stopping for no rest, they crossed through little ponds; stumbled with rocks on the way, continuing as they struggled to stand up on the uneasy ground. After much time of battling, Maul fooled the mysterious man and rolled to his back, scratching it with his blade, the man kneeled of pain to the ground, and before no much time passed, Maul beheaded him. With curiosity, he examined the corpse with the red light of his lightsaber, and saw with great fear and surprise the decapitated head of himself. Was it an interference of The Force or something else, but he saw a glimpse of what would be his future. He saw images of himself slaughtering people, both young and old, in what he believed to be some kind of Temple. They tried to defend their selves clumsily by duelling against him, using all Force powers they could remember under the great pressure and fear that he caused them. The images changed constantly, changing only the place, the deeds were the same. He saw himself then, kneeling before the gloomily robed figure of Darth Sidious.

"Well done, my talented apprentice. You have ended your long task of at last vanquishing the Jedi Order."

Maul couldn't feel anything in the head of his self from the vision, but the dark influence of his master; it became nothing else than a poisoned mind, with no true self in its soul shallow, only an everlasting dark loyalty to Sidious.

After he regained his senses, he sat by a wall and thought of what he saw: Was he only a puppet for his master? Would he become into that person if he continued to learn from him? He couldn't know, but he remembered about his mission and took his lightsaber from the ground and left the tunnel running.

Chapter 2

Maul left the cave, being received by a forest with few trees and wide ponds, and a tall and wide building, which was the Malastare Senate, stood further a little further, being followed by smaller buildings.

He sighed and said to himself, "Let's end this thing."

He dashed rapidly and ran there using his Force speed. To avoid sightings, he hid behind the widest tree closer to the building. He glanced at its side and saw many people entering the building, and walking to the ones behind it. He took his sight away and put on his robe's hood, with its shadow darkening his face, covering his identity. Then he walked away from the tree to the crowd before the building, and as he walked through it, he used his Sith ability of illusion and took the shape of a lady elegantly dressed with a card on the left side of the dress that had a picture of the woman with the name Kah'talia Nemora, and post of member of the Senate.

Maul in his disguise presented before the guards by the gates, and believing what the card said, they let him in. In its giant hall, he saw one of the Senate members going to one of the elevators on the wall far before him, knowing that he would be going to the Senator's office, he followed him and joined him in the elevator. They greeted warmly as the elevator's gates closed and kept silent until the elevator reached the office at the top of the building. Maul recovered his normal shape and killed the member with his blade, slicing into many pieces, and before the gates could open completely, he Force pushed them, throwing them potently to the Senator's table situated at the far end of the wide hall found after walking a short corridor. Maul walked to the Senator, who stood up from his chair and seemed to grab something at his belt, ignoring this, Darth jumped to the man and just before he could land with his feet on his shoulders and so stab his lightsaber on his head, he drew a lightsaber and with Jedi speed he avoided him.

"This is new, I see," said Maul laughing and taking his robe off.

"Who sent you?" asked the Senator standing prepared for anything.

"I'll tell it to your beheaded head." The Sith laughed and lit the second blade of his dual lightsaber, and crouched, preparing to attack. They stayed still for some time, until Maul dashed to the Senator, who placed his blade on Maul's way, thus fighting roughly. Maul took advantage of the objects around him and threw them with The Force to the Jedi Senator, tables, chairs, statues that stood around the hall. But the Senator was a learned Jedi, with the instinct of a Master, who avoided things and then attacked in such way that it seemed to be planned before the Sith could have thought of throwing that object. Tiring and long hours passed slowly, as the battle went heating more and more, they both showed signs of tireness, and sweated terribly, but that ironically caused them to put more mind and force to the battle.

Eventually, Maul kicked the bottom of his opponent's lightsaber and it slipped up from his hand, disarming him, with The Force, he made the disarmed Jedi to kneel before him.

"You are nothing but a senseless minion," said the Senator.

This made Maul to make a face of confusion and hesitation, for he remembered what he saw at the cave, was he walking to the path of being a shallow soul, only meant to serve? Maul would know he was going to regret what he was about to do, but he had to, for the good of himself.

"Say this to no one." He turned the light of his lightsaber off and made a vow with his hand for the defeated Jedi to rise, who did with a confused, yet satisfied and happy face.

"I won't," said the Senator extending his hand to the Sith, who walked back with resentment, knowing that he did not wish to make this a friendship, he removed the hand.

"I didn't do this for your good, did you hear me?" said Maul recovering his robe and putting it on, but doubting about what he just said.

"I understand." The senator made a reverence and saw Maul walk back to the elevator.

Epilogue

Nearly a year has passed, and Maul was in Naboo, right after killing a Jedi Master, and engaging his Jedi Apprentice, who was enraged for his slaughtering. Maul looked at this Jedi with quite a respect as a foe even when he had made mocking faces to him after he killed the poor Master. His lightsaber was sliced into two, so he had to use only one side, and after a small fight, he achieved to throw the Apprentice into a pit, but he grabbed from a short tube, seeming defenceless. To finish his mission now, Maul sliced the edge of the pit, making many sparks fall upon the Padawan's face and tease him until he could fall, but it still didn't happen. After a short while, he saw that the Padawan was making a deep face of concentration, suddenly, he jumped behind him and grabbed the lightsaber from his fallen Master. Maul could have easily defended from the strike he was about to make, but he remembered his vision, and he could see a bond to that shallow future. No, he wouldn't make that, it was the only thing that could stop his unbearable destiny, so he stayed standing, allowing the Jedi Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi to slice his waist entirely. Maul felt weak and near to death as he fell to that nearly endless pit, as his memory and life was wiping out.


End file.
